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Official says general public to be involved in future development of capital

The development of stalled sectors of Islamabad will be initiated within three months, Prime Minister’s Task Force on Islamabad Chairman Faisal Sakhi Butt said on Wednesday.

Addressing a reception organised by the traders’ welfare association of Sector F-10 Markaz, he said the task force was playing its role in bringing the people and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on the same page to resolve their longstanding issues.

He said that the rental control act would improve under the government and “I will make efforts to ensure its approval in line with the aspirations of the traders’ community”. Faisal Butt said that on the suggestion of the task force, the CDA had notified the appointment of focal persons responsible for resolving civic issues and redressing public complaints in their areas of jurisdiction.

“The step has been taken to facilitate the general public, particularly the traders’ community, as now they will have to interact with the single person (focal person) for action on their complaints. The people no longer have to visit CDA officers for that purpose,” he said.

He said the development of stalled sectors was having multi-dimensional implications that were retarding the city’s development, as well as adding to the miseries of the people, especially the allottees. Faisal Butt said that a comprehensive strategy was being evolved to resolve civic issues on priority, which included provision of decent public transport, maintenance of the city, conservation of environment, upgrading sanitation services, eradication of encroachments, provision of clean drinking water and cleaning of nullahs.

He said that the transportation system in the federal capital was in a poor condition, adding that he had met the Turkish ambassador to learn from his experiences in running a decent public transport in the city.

“The government is committed to involving the general public in the future development of the city. In the past, decisions had always been taken while keeping the people in the dark and without having their say in the development at the cost of billions of rupees.” Speaking on the occasion, CDA Chairman Engineer Farkhand Iqbal said that a drastic cut had been imposed on non-development expenditure of the authority to pave the way for development activities.

He said that the extension of Blue Area had been envisaged in a state-of-the-art manner to boost economic activities and overcome the shortage of commercial areas of the city. The chairman said that the people would be involved in the decision-making process and all future development would be carried out with the participation of the general public, particularly the traders’ community. “The CDA is committed to resolving complaints of the public, and the appointment of focal persons is one of the leading steps in this regard.”

Earlier, the president of the traders’ welfare association, Tahir Abbasi, highlighted the issues confronting the traders’ community. app